The Taporoporo'anga Ipukarea Society (TIS) is an environmental non-government organisation

Non-governmental organization

A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...

 based in the Cook Islands

Cook Islands

The Cook Islands is a self-governing parliamentary democracy in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand...

 of Polynesia

Polynesia

Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...

 in the south-western Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

. An approximate translation of the name from Cook Islands Māori

Cook Islands Maori

The Cook Islands Māori language, also called Māori Kūki 'Āirani or Rarotongan, is the official language of the Cook Islands. Most Cook Islanders also call it Te reo Ipukarea, literally "the language of the Ancestral Homeland"....

 is "looking after our heritage". It is the BirdLife International

BirdLife International

BirdLife International is a global Partnership of conservation organisations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources...

 partner organisation for the Cook Islands.

History

Following a restructure of the government-funded Environmental Service, TIS was set up both as an environmental watchdog, and to promote harmony between Cook Islanders

Cook Islanders

Cook Islanders or Cook Islands Māori are residents of the Cook Islands, which is composed of 15 islands and atolls in Polynesia in the Pacific Ocean.- Citizenship and nationality :...

 and their environment through the raising of awareness, initiation of projects, and liaison with the government and other NGOs. Activities that TIS has been involved in include:

• A recovery program for the endangered Rarotonga Monarch
  Rarotonga Monarch
  The Rarotonga Monarch , also known as the Kakerori, is a species of bird in the Monarchidae family. It is endemic to the Cook Islands. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests...
  
   (Pomarea dimidiata), a bird endemic to the Cook Islands which had declined to a population low of about 38 individuals in 1987
• The successful "Save Our Suwarrow" campaign, which opposed a proposal to farm
  Oyster farming
  Oyster farming is an aquaculture practice in which oysters are raised for human consumption. Oyster farming most likely developed in tandem with pearl farming, a similar practice in which oysters are farmed for the purpose of developing pearls...
  
   Black-lip Oysters (Pinctada margaritifera) for pearls in the pristine lagoon of Suwarrow
  Suwarrow
  Suwarrow is a low coral atoll in the Cook Islands in the Pacific Ocean. It is about 1,300 km south of the equator and 930 km NNW of Rarotonga, from which it is administered....
  
  , an uninhabited atoll
  Atoll
  An atoll is a coral island that encircles a lagoon partially or completely.- Usage :The word atoll comes from the Dhivehi word atholhu OED...
  
   important for breeding seabirds which had been declared a national park
  National park
  A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
  
   in 1978
• A project proposal to eradicate an invasive
  Invasive species
  "Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....
  
   bird, the Common Myna
  Common Myna
  The Common Myna or Indian Myna also sometimes spelled Mynah, is a member of family Sturnidae native to Asia. An omnivorous open woodland bird with a strong territorial instinct, the Myna has adapted extremely well to urban environments...
  
   (Acridotheres tristis), from the island of Mangaia
  Mangaia
  Mangaia is the most southerly of the Cook Islands and the second largest, after Rarotonga.-Geography:...
  
  , where it is posing a threat to the endemic Mangaia Kingfisher
  Mangaia Kingfisher
  The Mewing Kingfisher or Mangaia Kingfisher , known locally as the Tanga‘eo, is a species of bird in the Alcedinidae, or Kingfisher family. It is endemic to Mangaia in the Cook Islands...
  
  (Todiramphus ruficollaris)